By Frank Pingue
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 6 (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy arrives at Augusta National Golf Club this week as the defending Masters champion and, for the first time in over a decade, free from relentless questions about when he will complete the career Grand Slam.
Talk of McIlroy winning the Masters had become an April tradition in the golf world, but now the Northern Irishman will have a new sense of relief when he drives down the picturesque Magnolia Lane that leads to the Augusta National
clubhouse.
"I'd like to start this press conference with a question myself," McIlroy asked with a smile shortly after his Masters triumph. "What are we all going to talk about next year?"
McIlroy, who prior to 2025 had endured both heartbreak and close calls at the Masters, showcased his grit and talent last year when he overcame a topsy-turvy final round with a birdie at the first playoff hole to secure the breakthrough victory.
Now the 36-year-old McIlroy, the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam and whose best result this season has been a runner-up finish at Riviera, will try to pull off a rare Masters repeat.
No player has won the Masters in consecutive years since Tiger Woods in 2001-02. Before that, only Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) have pulled off the Augusta double.
TOP-RANKED SCHEFFLER EYES THIRD MASTERS TITLE
World number one Scottie Scheffler, who is seeking a third Green Jacket in the last five years, has the shortest odds of any golfer in the field. Scheffler brought his career major tally to four with wins at the PGA Championship and British Open in 2025 and has never finished outside the top 20 in his six Masters starts.
Scheffler, who romped to a four-shot victory in his first event of the season, withdrew from his Masters tune-up event in Houston a decision that was not injury-related but rather due to the impending birth of his second child, who was born last week.
Scheffler, who arrived at Augusta National on Sunday with his wife and two sons, last competed three weeks ago at the Players Championship where he finished in a share of 22nd place.
With no players able to complete the career Grand Slam this week, the pressure will now shift to high-profile players still seeking an elusive Green Jacket.
That group includes LIV Golf's Bryson DeChambeau, who briefly held the lead in the final round last year, Justin Rose, the man McIlroy beat in the playoff, and twice major winner Xander Schauffele.
DECHAMBEAU ARRIVES AT AUGUSTA IN TOP FORM
DeChambeau, a two-time U.S. Open champion who finished a Masters career-best fifth last year, is in solid form having won each of the last two LIV events in Singapore and South Africa.
For DeChambeau, it was his short game that let him down at last year's Masters and he will need to establish much better distance control with his irons if he hopes to become the first golfer to win a Green Jacket while competing for LIV.
Rose, who has been enjoying a late-career renaissance, carded a stunning 10 birdies in his final-round 66 to reach the playoff with McIlroy in 2025 before becoming one of nine players to finish runner-up at least three times at Augusta National.
The 45-year-old Englishman has 15 top-25 finishes in his 20 Masters starts and earlier this year secured his 13th PGA Tour win with a wire-to-wire triumph at Torrey Pines.
WOODS TO MISS SECOND CONSECUTIVE MASTERS
Schauffele, who has finished inside the top 10 at Augusta National in five of the past seven years, is a year removed from the rib injury that hampered his 2025 season and one of the more complete players in the game.
Spaniard Jon Rahm, who collected his second major at the 2023 Masters before joining LIV eight months later, will like his chances given his form this year. Rahm, who had top-15 performances in three majors last year and represented Europe in his fourth Ryder Cup, has a win and three runner-up finishes on LIV this season and leads the circuit's season-long individual standings.
For a second consecutive year, five-times champion Woods will not compete at the Masters as he announced last week he was stepping away to seek treatment after pleading not guilty in a driving-under-the-influence arrest stemming from a rollover crash.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
